It’s an all too frequent occurrence: Veterans with a Federal Housing Administration or
conventional loan call looking to refinance to remove the mortgage insurance from their
loan. Perhaps years after their original home purchase, they are finally exploring their
options with a U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) home loan.

When asked why they didn’t get a VA mortgage initially, the answer, all too often, is
because their loan originator or Realtor never mentioned it as an option. Even worse, some
veterans are discouraged from using VA loan benefits because of less-than-legitimate
reasons such as “VA loans take too long to close” or “VA appraisers undervalue homes.”
Because of these pervasive myths, many veterans spend months or years making
unnecessary mortgage insurance payments.